SAHAJ A school based age graded comprehensive sexuality education curriculum
SAHAJ (सम्मान, हक्क, जबाबदारी | Respect, Rights, Responsibilities)
SAHAJ is Prayas Health Group’s school-based comprehensive sexuality education curriculum designed to support young people in growing up healthy with confidence, dignity, and care.
SAHAJ has been contextualised by Prayas Health Group through decades of experience across urban, rural, tribal, and informal school settings in India. The curriculum is designed to be age-appropriate, rooted in local realities, and deeply connected to students’ lived experiences.
Aligned with UNESCO’s International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education (ITGSE), SAHAJ offers 80 structured sessions from Grades 1 to 10, building not just knowledge but essential life skills—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
Key Themes of SAHAJ:
• Making Sense of Puberty
• Reproductive Anatomy and Functioning
• Gender, Gender Roles, and Sexual Orientation
• Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships
• Assertive Communication
• Abuse, Consent, Understanding Boundaries, Rights, and Laws
• Teasing, Harassment, and Bullying
• Staying Safe (Offline and on the Internet)
• Conception, Contraception, STIs, HIV, and Safe Sex
• Making SMART Choices
Implemented across Pune, Ahilyanagar, Nashik, Phaltan, and Kolhapur, SAHAJ has reached over 4,000 students, teachers, and parents, and facilitated Comprehensive Sexuality Education sensitization for more than 3,500 adults across diverse educational and community contexts. Across these spaces, the program is fostering meaningful change, students are becoming more confident and expressive, schools are embracing open dialogue, and conversations around growing up are becoming more informed and respectful.
Films below capture the journeys of SAHAJ in two schools from diverse context.
Urja Gurukul School, Ahilyanagar - https://youtu.be/9OYiHIF8qI4?si=tiq8sawW8G8T7Ey8
KNBB School, Phaltan - https://youtu.be/6P47D35E1tU?si=EipHaj8EtW-qaVOU
SAHAJ envisions a Maharashtra where every child has access to education that supports healthy development, enabling them to understand themselves, navigate change with confidence, and build relationships rooted in respect, empathy, and responsibility.
If you would like to know more about this program then please contact Dr. Trupti Darak through email (